Nah. That doesn’t seem quite right. It lacks the certain gravitas the evening and situation require.

Perhaps a red ribbon quilt? A Hudson’s Bay blanket?

Oh. Wait. Got it.

A Snuggie. Yes. A Snuggie.

That’s what we’re looking for. That’s the proper metaphor for this particularly snowy, early September Tuesday night at the Jubilee Auditorium — a sonic and visual Snuggie that was the right, reliable mix of comfort, charm and kitsch.

The veteran Canadian artist’s most recent homecoming show was a predictably enjoyable showcase of all that makes her one of this nation’s most likeable and bankable stars, delivering two hours of bonafide, capital “E”entertainment, with song, storytelling, silliness, self-deprecation and good-natured sass for all ages (well, mainly those in the mid two digits).

And on this night, the package that which anyone who’s ever found themselves at an Arden show is presented with, was particularly warm and welcoming.

It made sense. It was the right show for the right night.

Taking the modestly adorned Jube stage, albeit with Lite-Brite-like versions of herself projected on the back screen, Jann and her sensational six-piece band (plus backup singer) launched into a clap-on, clap-off — the Clapper! — version of new tune Counting Mercies, from her latest release Everything Almost, a notable artistic uptick.

It set a tasteful tone that the Calgary gal was more than happy to abide by and affront in equal measures, as she’s wont to do.

Musically, though, the bar was set high and remained high throughout the night. In fact, quite frankly, Arden has vocally never sounded better than she did, powerfully owning the mix of new and old and covers as if she was proud of them in a way she never has been before.

Take her early set “montage” of tracks from her now 20-year-old, star-making sophomore effort Living Under June. It was a medley that seemed less homage than a genuinely grateful revisiting of the material that helped catapult her to AC fame in this country and around the world.

That was no more evident than in her version of Insensitive, which, after all of these years and some arrangement liberties that leaned it more toward the pop side of things, still managed to be what you could, arguably say, was broaching on a definitive version.

The band helped. Tight, excellent and supportive without being flashy, even when they took over the stage while Arden went and “peed.”

The rest of the songs were just as reverentially, yet loosely, delivered, including Could I Be Your Girl, You Forgot You Loved Me, Carly Simon’s classic You’re So Vain, the Nina Simone version of Glory of Love, and Where No One Knows Me.

Of course, the last track was laughable, being sung, as it was, in a room where most of the folks would have considered themselves more friends than fans, having watched her career and taken as much pride and ownership in it as she has.

And she was more than happy to tap into that well of homesprung love, mentioning everything from late, local haunt Cover to Cover to her friend with whom she first got high, as well as his Highness Mayor Nenshi, who was apparently in attendance and whom she recalled meeting in Boston a decade or more ago, autographing for the then youngster his Alberta driver’s licence.

Naturally, that’s half of any Arden show, her asides, her stories and her introductions that would undermine the serious nature of much of her material if it wasn’t for the fact that she lovingly mocked same songs before treating them, in her wonderful way, as if they were her children.

If there’s any criticism you could level at the show is that it was slightly more polished and, perhaps, subdued in its overall tempo than other shows in recent memory — at times coming off more like a studio-filmed CBC special than an actual concert — and that there were very few real surprises in the evening.

One of those, it should be mentioned, was opener Rose Cousins, who transcended the inherent limitations of solo, guitar and keys, folk-based singer-songwriter in a way that made her more than memorable.

Like her benefactor and vocal and arden(t) fan, the P.E.I. native, too, was more than happy to subvert her predominantly sad songs by acknowledging their darkness and cracking wise about them. That’s even as she sang them in a voice that showed nothing but genuine emotion and played them in a way that breathed beautiful life into their bare bones, and then warmed them in a refreshing and original contemporary pop incubator.

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